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So, over the weekend I was sent on an adventure... I was flown down to Arizona, tasked with taking delivery of a friend's new to him S2000 and driving it back to Minnesota. 3 hours in a plane, 25 in a car, and a total of 6 hours of sleep for the 48 the trip accounted for. I'm felling a bit sick, I'll admit, because I'm not as young as I like to pretend that I am most of the time, but it was a ton of fun and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

I left from Phoenix and headed north toward Flagstaff, hoping for a good opportunity to get a shot of the car with the mountains just north of there, but after cruising around Flagstaff for a bit and running out of time to waste, I gave up on it, there were no good stopping points. I did manage to spend some time on Historic Route 66, however, so it wasn't a complete waste. As my dad put it on Facebook; "Driving Route 66 with the top down in February. A dream come true." And outside of only being sunburned on the right half of my body, I'll agree!

I did make a stop off the 40 for fuel and found a spot for a few quick shots.

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Image size reduced, original size: 800 x 534. Click here to view the image in its original dimension.

Image size reduced, original size: 800 x 534. Click here to view the image in its original dimension.

Continued on after that, and noticed the sun starting to dip near the horizon as I made the climb out of Albuquerque. Frantically scanning the exits for the next few minutes, I spotted a gas station with a clear view of the western horizon and dipped across two lanes to make the exit. Managed this one out of it.

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From there, I made my way east, than started northward before entering Texas, through the tip of Oklahoma (just the tip), and made my stop for the night in Liberal, KS, a name that describes the owner of this car way more accurately than it could ever describe any singular location in Kansas. Slept for 3 hours and jumped back on the road before sun up.

The sun began to come up around 2 hours later, and I was able to again find a great spot to stop off the highway.

Image size reduced, original size: 800 x 534. Click here to view the image in its original dimension.

Image size reduced, original size: 800 x 534. Click here to view the image in its original dimension.

From there, the goal was minimal stops, I wanted to be home for another friend's Super Bowl party, where I would deliver the car to its owner. I have no more photos from here forward.

However, the car had midway through the previous day developed a misfire under load in the higher gears, but it was starting to get worse and I was toying with the idea of stopping and finding plugs. I called the owner and informed him, and he went and picked up a set up here so we could do them when I arrived. However, the car had other plans.

North of Des Moines, it began to misfire while just cruising at speed. That was the mail in the coffin. I called ahead to Ames, and the O'Reilly there had the plugs I needed, so I swung in there and changed the plugs in the parking lot. 1, 2, and 3 all came out looking used, but read just fine, no problems there. I pulled #4, and as that plug came out oil splattered everywhere across the valve cover... The plug was literally dripping. Looking down the plug well, it was clear that the valve cover gasket was shot and leaking down onto the plug... Great. So I threw new plugs in and made the push for home. About halfway, it started missing again under load in 5th and 6th gear, so I just limped it the rest of the way.

Oh, and never drive a car with bald summers in the snow. Ever. The last 15 miles were the most grueling 15 miles I've ever spent behind the wheel of a car, it was that bad.

It's a good thing you know what you're doing. I would have been seriously anxious and pissed if I were to discover an engine misfire soon after purchasing the car.

Thanks!

I was getting codes for more than just cylinder 4, so I assumed old or poorly gapped plugs and rolled with it until I felt I couldn't anymore. It seemed like revving it out was making it worse, so the leak was likely not too bad to begin with but in having a bit of fun with the car it progressively got worse. I mean, you have to admit, 1700 miles is PLENTY for a small leak to turn into a big leak.

I also compiled a list of probably around 10 items that need addressing or at least looking into on the car, but even so, my buddy still got the deal of the century on this thing.

QUOTE (Kiroshino @ 2 hours, 14 minutes ago)

Why is February important?

QUOTE (Seri @ 1 hour, 39 minutes ago)

Because it's usually too cold to drive it with the top down, I'd imagine.